Garment hanger



-W. N. HA RTZELL AND H. A. WEISS.

GARMENT HANGER.

APPLICATION man SEPT. 7, 1921.

Patented June 27,1922.

.INVENTORS A TTORNEYS F'EENT QFFECE.

GARMENT HANGER.

T 0 all whom it may concem Be it known that we, VVILLIAM N. HART- ZELL and HARRY A. Wnrss, citizens of the United States, and residents of Butler, in the countyof Butler and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful improvement in Garment Hangers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to garment hangers and has for its object to provide a hanger of simple and practical construction which is adapted to supporta waist or coat and a skirt, or the device may be employed for supporting a coat and trousers or other garments if desired.

A special object of the invention is to provide such a device which will automatically adjust itself to various sized garments to be supported.

'Other special objects are to provide such an automatically gripping hanger which can be easily attached and detached from the garment, in which the means for moving the gripping members also serve as limiting stops therefor, in which the gripping arms are firmly supported and accurately guided, which is cheap to manufacture yet sturdy in construction, one in which a single tension means is employed for moving the gripping arms and which will move the same corresponding distances, thus securing a balanced hanger or one which does not tend to tip sidewise due to unequal leverage upon the supporting bar, and one in which the movable parts are supported so as to move with little friction against their supporting means.

These and other objects of the invention will more clearly appear when taken in con- 1 form hooks 20, 29 which are adapted to nection with the following description and the appended claims.

Like reference characters are used to designate correspondingparts throughout the several views of the drawings in which Fig. 1 is an elevational view showing the preferred embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 a sectional view taken on the line IIII of Fig. 1 and Figs. 3, 4 and 5 vertical transverse sectional views taken on the lines III-III, IV-IV and V-V, respectively, of Fig. 1.

The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a cross-tree or bowed arm 1 to which is attached the usual supporting hook 2. Depending from the cross-tree are the supporting guide brackets 3, 4 and 5 which are suitably fastened to the member 1 as by Specification of Letters Patent.

end in the bottom of the bracket.

Patented June 27, 1922.

Application filed September 7, 1921. Serial No. 499,103.

riveting as indicated at 6. Each of the brackets is made of a single piece, preferably of sheet metal, which is so formed as to provlde rectangular guiding openings 8, 9 and 10, respectively.

Housed within the central bracket 4 is a rotatable shaft 11, one end of which is journalled in the cross-tree 1 and the opposite A pinion 12 1s fixed to the lower end of, this shaft and meshes with the two racks 13 and 14 which are urged outwardly under the tension of coil spring 15, having one end anchored in the cross-tree 1 and its other end attached to the shaft 11 as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 4.

Each of the racks is formed from a single piece of metal bent to form, being substantially U-shaped in cross-section with a depressed groove 16 in its side, which groove is provided with a series of spaced apertures 17 with which pinion 12 engages, and with a pair of marginal ribs 18. The ribs 18 serve toreduce the frictional area of the racks when the same abut the sides of the guide openings 8 to 10, the racks being suspended by the pinion slightly out of contact with the top and bottom of said openings, thus securing a very free movement thereof.

To the upper edges of the racks are at tached the finger clips 19 and 19' for retracting, the racks from the position shown in Fig. 1 against the tension of the spring 15. The clips also serve as stops limiting the outward movement of the racks by abutting the inner edges of clips 3 and 5,'respectively.

The outer ends of the racks are bent to contact and hold the garment to be supported as is obvious to those familiar with the art.

The form illustrated is intended to be used particularly with skirts which are engaged at the waist line by the hooks 20 and 20. It is understood, however, that gripping members may be provided at any point along the racks, either outside of or within the brackets 3 and 5, the latter positioning being found particularly advantageous in case it is desired to support skirts having small waist bands, and is also useful for supporting trousers.

The mode of operation is obvious. The racks are retracted by gripping the finger clips 19, 19' and forcing the same inwardly, and the garment, such as a skirt, to be suspended is placed so as to embrace the hooks 20, 20. Upon release of the clips, the spring 15 projects the racks 13 and let outwardly bringing the hooks into gripping contact with the garment regardless of the size thereof within the limits for which the hanger is designed. By forcing the clips and racks inwardly, the garment is released for removal.

It is noted that the clips 19, 19 are placed upon the upper edge of the racks so as to be always exposed for convenient gripping, an advantage found to be of great practical importance. The cross-tree 1 may be used for supporting coats, jackets, et cetera, in the customary manner, and is intended to be used, either in conjunction with or independently of the gripping members.

e claim:

1. A garment hanger comprising a crosstree, supporting guide brackets depending therefrom, a pair of racks mounted in said brackets for engaging the garment to be suspended, a pinion meshing with both said racks, and means for forcing said racks in an outward direction.

2. A garment hanger comprising a crosstree, supporting guide brackets depending therefrom, a pair of racks mounted in said brackets for engaging the garment to be suspended, a pinion meshing with said racks and a spring for urging said racks in an outward direction.

3. A garment hanger comprising a crosstree, supporting guide brackets depending therefrom, a pair of racks mounted in said brackets for engaging the garment to be suspended, a pinion meshing with said racks and a single spring for exerting a corresponding tension upon each of said racks.

4. A garment hanger comprising a crosstree, supporting guide brackets depending therefrom, a pair of racks mounted in said brackets for engaging the garment to be suspended, a pinion meshing with both said racks, means for forcing said racks in an outward direct-ion and finger clips on said racks for retracting the same and for limiting their outward movement.

5. A garment hanger comprising a crosstree, supporting guide brackets depending therefrom, a pair of racks mounted in said brackets for engaging the garment to be suspended, a pinion meshing with said racks, a spring for urging said racks in an outward direction and finger clips on the upper edge of said racks for retracting the same and limiting their outward movement.

.6. A garment hanger comprising a crosstree, guiding brackets depending therefrom, a pair of racks guided in the brackets for engaging the garment to be suspended, a revolvable shaft mounted in one of the brackets, a pinion fixed to the shaft and meshing with the racks, and a spring for revolving the shaft to urge the racks outwardly.

7 A garment hanger comprising a crosstree, guiding brackets depending therefrom, a pair of racks guided in the brackets for engaging the garment to be suspended, a revolvable shaft mounted in one of the brackets, a pinion fixed to the shaft and meshing with the racks, a spring for revolving the shaft to urge the racks outwardly, each of the racks being substantially U-shaped in cross-section having depressed grooves in their bottoms whereby their frictional engagement with the brackets is reduced.

8. A garment hanger comprising a crosstree, guiding brackets depending therefrom, a pair of racks for engaging the garment to be suspended U-shaped in cross-section and having depressed grooves in their bottoms which are provided with spaced apertures, a shaft rotatably mounted in one of the brackets, a pinion fixed to the shaft and engaging said apertures, a single spring for correspondingly urging the racks outwardly and finger clips on the upper edge of the racks for retracting the same and limiting their outward movement.

In testimony whereof, we hereunto sign our names.

lVILLIAM N. HARTZELL. HARRY A. WEISS. 

